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My heart jumps to my throat as I wait. It feels like an eternity, but it probably only takes Grace two seconds to crack a smile and nod. “Yes, Matteo. I’d love for us to become a family.”
I almost can’t believe my ears.
Family. That word used to mean something else—duty, obligation.
But now that Grace and Jack have entered my life, it’s taking on a new meaning. Joy. Happiness. Everything that’s good in the world.
I raise her hand up to my lips and kiss her knuckles. “You won’t regret it, kitten. I’ll make you happy. You and Jack and our other kids.”
I wince as I realize what I’ve just called her. She specifically told me not to call her “kitten.” But she doesn’t seem to mind now. “Our other kids, huh?” she asks.
I shrug. I’m not going to take that back. Ever since I saw Jack, even before I learned he was my son, I wanted Grace to have another baby.
This time, I’ll be there for her from the very beginning. I’ll buy her whatever weird shit she craves during pregnancy, hold her hand in the delivery room, and go through the sleepless nights of early parenthood with her.
“Matteo, there’s something else we need to discuss first, before we start making plans for the future.”
My heart stops. “What is it, kitten?”
“I want you to promise me something.”
“Anything.”
She smiles wryly. “Don’t speak too soon.”
“Tell me what you want, and I’ll make it happen.”
Fear flickers in her eyes. “I want you to promise me that Jack—and any other kids we may have in the future—won’t be involved in the family business.”
“Done.”
Grace gives an uneasy laugh. “Think before you speak.”
I pause for two seconds. “Done.”
Her laughter fades, and she looks deep into my eyes as though she’s searching for answers. “I’m being serious.”
“Me too.” I pause. “My dad won’t be too happy about it. And I’m betting your side of the family won’t be thrilled either. But screw them.”
“You mean that?” she asks, hope creeping into her voice.
“I told you, I’d do anything for you. And our kids.” I nod, grinning. I put my hand on her waist and pull her close. “I love you, kitten.”
Her face lights up, and she beams at me. “I love you too.”
Epilogue
Grace—Three Months Later
I sit in a cage, my hands wrapped around the metal bars while my legs dangle over the edge.
It’s not a figurative cage. I’m literally being suspended from the ceiling, wearing only a black lace bra and matching panties. A blindfold has robbed me of my sight, so all I can do is prick my ears up and listen.
My heart thuds in my chest, regular but rapid.
It’s not often that Matteo and I get to take a night off from being parents, so I’m glad he’s turning this into such an event.
Jack is spending the night with my parents. As soon as we dropped him off at the house I grew up in, Matteo had this Cheshire-cat grin on his face.
“What?” I asked, suspicious.
Matteo is great at keeping his work outside the home, and I’ve been blissfully unaware of what he does all day (and night). When we do have time to spare, we spend it with Jack. So I had no idea what to expect.
“We’re not going home,” he said. He tossed a black box onto my lap. I pulled the black, glossy ribbon loose and opened the box to find the lacy underthings I’m wearing now.
From what I could see before Matteo put a blindfold over my eyes, this room looked almost exactly the same as that first night we’d met. The same bed. The same oversized mirror. The same dark, foreboding interior.
Except there was a cage hanging from the ceiling. Much like a birdcage, it had a flat, solid bottom and a dome made of gilded metal bars.
Matteo hoisted me up and left me here, telling me to wait. He didn’t say how long. His only instruction was to not play with myself.
It’s ironic, I guess. Me sitting in a gilded cage.
Growing up, I felt like I was living like a caged animal, trapped by my father’s restrictive rules. I thought I’d escaped when I shed my identity in the woods, but I just traded one jail for another. I couldn’t leave the country, and I was living in fear.
Now that I’m with Matteo, I finally know what freedom feels like. As the wife of a mobster, of course, I can’t live like most people do. But I’m doing the things I want to do anyway. I chose this life. I want to live with Matteo, raising Jack together.
I’m not living in a cage. I’m home. Right where I want to be. Figuratively.
That said, even though this literal cage wasn’t my idea, I’m loving it.
I can’t stop thinking about what Matteo will do once he comes back here. Is he actually here with me, watching me as his intense eyes burn with lust?
